Past Events

ICSC Events 2011-12

Reflecting the harsh climate, often thin soils and generally forbidding character of the vast northern territory that is Canada, it has often been said that the history of this country is inescapably environmental. This lecture series engages the great drama of human interaction with this challenging realm, reflecting on the transformation of the northern half of the continent through time as a foundation for sensible engagement with the environmental challenges facing Canadian society in the twenty-first century.

Each lecture will encourage reflection on the links between its title subject and one or more of three themes central to the series: Human activities and Canadian Nature; Nature’s Influence on the nature of Canada; and Ideas and Nature in Canada and reflect upon how the subject of the lecture has affected/ changed “the nature of Canada”.

Graeme Wynn, the Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies at UBC, has co-organized the series with Colin Coates, the Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies at York University. The series is hosted and supported by Green College, UBC, with additional financial support from NiCHE (Network in Canadian History and Environment); Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies (UBC); Canadian Studies Program (UBC); Dean of Arts (UBC); Departments of History and Geography (UBC). Click schedule to see what’s next!

Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Robson Reading Series:

In partnership with the I.K. Barber Learning Centre, the International Canadian Studies Centre is pleased to announce the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Robson Reading Series 2011-12:

ICSC Events 2010-11

In 2010-11, ICSC supported:

In early 2011, McLean Chair John O’Brian presented the Brenda and David McLean lectures, “The Bomb in the Wilderness: Nuclear Photography, the Atomic Age, and Canada” at the Liu Institute for Global Issues: “On Photographing a Dirty Bomb” (January 25), “Vox Crapulous” (February 1), and “Picturing Nuclear Risk” (February 8 ). Videos of these lectures, introduced and edited by Laura Moss, are now available on Youtube. Just click through the highlighted titles above.

In conjunction with the McLean lectures, UBC International Canadian Studies Centre and the Belkin Gallery co-hosted the “Cold War Confidential Symposium” (February 4, 2011) at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery with public lectures by Daniel Grausam (Washington University) — “Nuclear Times”, Finis Dunaway (Trent University) — “Dr. Spock is Worried: Visual Culture, the Bomb, and the Struggle for Ecological Citizenship in Cold War America”, as well as Martha Langford (Concordia University) and John Langford (University of Victoria) — “A Cold War Tourist and His Camera”

The Centre hosted Prof. Aarti Nanavati of M. S. University of Baroda, India, as a Shastri-Indo Canadian Fellow (May–June 2011)

The Centre also sponsored several symposia and speaker series, including: